Explorers Against Extinction have a remarkable way to mark 2021.

They are championing the work of 21 conservation projects around the world, many of which are small projects that have been badly hit by Covid-19 in 2020.  They are calling this initiative 21 for 21 and all the fundraising and donations this year are going towards it.

Firstly, a bit about Explorers Against Extinction:

It is a registered working name of The Real World Conservation Trust, a UK registered charity.   There’s another working name called Sketch for Survival. Their mission is to promote the conservation of rare and endangered species and the protection of their environments;  to advance the education of the public in the conservation issues around rare and endangered species and the threats to their environment; and to help local communities impacted by proximity to rare species benefit from their protection.

About 21 For 21

There are 21 projects and you can nominate a specific project from the 21 For 21 Directory to fundraise for or split your fundraising across several or all of the projects.  There are some UK projects but equally there are projects overseas – and this will help raise awareness of the work they are doing. 

In each case, human activity is the biggest driver of destruction so this amazing initiative gives us all the chance to really and truly contribute to worldwide conservation from our homes – just £21 will support the 21 projects, unless you prefer to focus on one or a couple, for example.  So this is a very exciting chance to really make a difference while sitting at home!

The 21 For 21 Projects are:

1. Seagrass Restoration UK
2. Saving the last West African Giraffe, Niger
3. Kit for Conservation K9s
4. Protecting Pangolins, South Africa
5. Big Cat Conservation, Tanzania
6. Protecting Ol Pejeta, Kenya
7. Sowing Seeds to Save Gorillas, Uganda
8. Whale Shark Conservation, Indian Ocean
9. Turtle Watch, Sri Lanka
10. Manta Ray Research, Indian Ocean
11. Big Cats of Bandipur, India
12. Elephant Sanctuary Support, Cambodia
13. Saving the World’s Smallest Bear
14. Trees for Koalas, Australia
15. Saving New Zealand’s Dophins
16. Wild Water Whales, Southern Ocean
17. Spotlight on Alabratrosses, South Georgia
18. Rewilding in the Pantanal, Brazil
19. Floating Classroom, Galapagos
20. Safeguarding the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor, Belize
21. Wildlife Protection Programme, US and Africa
    
    

There's more information on each project and you can access that on the 21 For 21 Directory of projects here

Ways to help are:

• To simply donate – you could donate £21, with one pound going to each project, or £2.10
• To get involved in Challenge yourself for Charity
• To get creative for conservation – submissions are invited until 30 June 2021; there are three categories, namely Stories for Survival, Sketch for Survival and Focus for Survival
  
  

One of the things I LOVE about the 21 For 21 initiative is that if, like me, you find it really difficult to choose between all the conservation projects, you can choose to support them all in one go with £21 or whatever you choose to donate!  I always feel bad for choosing one project over another so this makes it easy for me to support the lot! 

Go to Explorers Against Extinction here

Just make a donation here

All images on this particular blog are ©Explorers Against Extinction

Have you ever stopped to think about the impact rat poison has on rats?

Two inspiring women, one in her teens, have put a website together called Rat Poison Facts to help people understand the impact.

They want to bring an end to animal mistreatment and the poisoning of the ecosystem by stopping the use of rat poison.

So the goal of Rat Poison Facts is to raise awareness:

• How some rodent control methods are inefficient
• How some rodent control methods could be dangerous for children, pets and other wildlife
• How some rodent control can harm our ecosystems
• How cruel and inhumane some methods to get rid of rats can be
• Humane alternatives to dealing with rats

When a rat takes in rat poison, there are all sorts of possible implications for the rat, such as internal bleeding, dehydration and dramatically bloated stomachs from overfeeding substances containing gas).  Death can be very slow and painful.

Rat poison can be dangerous to people as well – young children end up in hospital every year because of it.  Pets may eat it by mistake.

The site has very helpful education resources, with useful links, including how you can get rid of rats in a humane way, with humane ways to keep your house rat-free that work.

You can find more information  on RatPoisonFacts website.

WCS Argentina has a new initiative!  And it involves dogs, sheep and pumas.

WCS is working to reduce conflict between herders and the wild carnivores who stalk their sheep flocks. 

The dogs are a mix of Anatolian shepherd and Great Pyrenees.   They watch over the domestic goats and sheep herds, protecting them from pumas, foxes, condors and other predators.

And because the dogs are protecting their flocks, the herds have stopped resorting to shooting, poisoning or trapping wildlife.  And there are a couple of wins here:

• Wild carnivores have a better future – many are endangered, such as the Andean cat
• Herds don’t need so many animals in a herd – and that means there’s less overgrazing and desertification is reduced.

Find out more from WCS Argentina